Celebrity news from Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

Tag Archives: Betty White

Betty White, Jennifer Coolidge, Naomi Judd and Pauley Perrette were among the pack of celebrities who turned out to honor some of the best and brightest in the canine community at the Third Annual Hero Dog Awards the other night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Hosted by Joey Lawrence, the event will be shown on The Hallmark Channel October 30.

Betty proved once again that at age 91, her comedy chops remain in formidable shape, as she and Pauley presented the Guide Dog Award — and got some of the biggest laughs of the night. She loves anyone who has a leg on each corner, she said. Coolidge riffed on all the things she could give up in life in order to donate more money to dog charities, starting with the top money-sucker on her list, boyfriends, and including bikini waxes (now that she has no boyfriends, why bother?) and drinking out on the town on Tuesdays.

Las Vegas Headliner of the Year Frankie Moreno and his hot-looking coed band had the house on its feet. Ryan O’Neal and son Redmond were there to accept special recognition on behalf of the late Farrah Fawcett, for her support of shelter dog adoptions.

But the real stars of the evening were the super dogs. For example, Search and Rescue Dog honoree John D. He is one of the canines whose uncanny cancer-detecting ability is leading researchers toward early detection protocols for ovarian, thyroid and other cancers. He is also a wonder dog when it comes to finding missing persons. The story of how John D found the body of a boy who had drowned, then went to the boy’s waiting mom and leaned hard against her to let her know, had more than a few people in tears.

So did the story of Law Enforcement/Arson Dog Lakota, who was remarkable among K9 crime fighters. After they got into a horrific accident, his human partner refused to give up hope on the dog, and a whole community wound up pulling for – and contributing to – Lakota’s return to ambulatory shape.

The over-all Hero Dog Award winner, Therapy Dog Elle, makes a statement in her own right – about what marvelous pets and helpers Pit Bulls can be. For anyone who has ever cared about man’s and woman’s best friend, the Hero Dog Awards promise a heart-touching evening.

Dogs have always been man’s best friend, but it’s only been in the last few decades that we have started behaving as if it works both ways. That’s an encapsulation of an idea that Betty White expressed last night, when she was honored at the Second Annual American Humane Association’s Hero Dog Awards — and Betty is one who would know.

The 90-year-old national treasure has been an animal lover throughout her lifetime, of course, going back to the days that, according to her, animal advocates were viewed as “a bunch of zealots” and our beastie besties were strictly considered beneath us. Now, though, every year we’re discovering more capabilities of these wonderful creatures, Betty enthused.

Kristin Chenoweth presents a new line of greeting cards for dogs — not too seriously — at the Hero Dog Awards

At the Hero Dog Awards, many of these remarkable capabilities were celebrated, as eight Hero Dog honorees and their stories were introduced with the help of emcee Kristin Chenoweth (and her own dog, Madeline Kahn Chenoweth), Joey Lawrence, Jewel, Pauley Perette, Kellie Martin, Denise Richards, Naomi Judd, Mark Steines, Jake T. Austin and other celebs.

For instance, there’s Jynx, the Law Enforcement/Arson Dog honoree. He was on duty with his handler, Deputy Sheriff Kyle Pagerly of the Berks County Sheriff’s Department, and other officers in rough terrain — and the German Shepherd alone detected a bad guy lying in wait, ready to ambush the law men with a sub machine gun and a cache of other weapons. Jynx alerted the deputies to the gunman’s presence, attacked the gunman — who nevertheless managed to fire several shots at Pagerly — and then attempted to pull his wounded master to safety. Pagerly died at the hospital, but the other officers on the scene that day feel they owe the hero dog their lives. Jynx now lives with Pagerly’s widow and baby daughter. It was Mrs. Pagerly, only a few weeks pregnant when she lost her 28-year-old husband, who tearfully accepted Jynx’ award — and a heartfelt standing ovation from the crowd.

There are stories of therapy dogs who’ve saved lives and brought troubled humans out of their shells, stories of courageous canines on the battlefield, dogs who’ve given people with disabilities ways to live normal lives. Yes, have the hankies handy if you watch the Hero Dog Awards on The Hallmark Channel November 8. Each honoree is loveable and deserving, unlike other awards shows we could name.

The Beverly Hilton Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, where such galas as the Golden Globes take place, was again the setting for the Hero Dog Awards, with quite a few canines, large and small, there to enjoy the event first-paw. (Whatever must those doggies have thought of being applauded by a ballroom full of people?) The crowd feasted upon sauteed tenderloin of beef and seared citrus olive marinated filet of sea bass — and a dessert of espresso almond tiramisu in a chocolate cup, complete with white chocolate hero dog medallions. For those who watched the first Hero Dogs Awards last year, with Carson Kressley as host — expect a more even program this year.

Valerie Harper may return to the series scene this year — but it won’t be in a vehicle that’s mean-spirited toward the senior set. The four-time Emmy winner is awaiting word on two pilots and says, “I’d love to do a series again and stay on the West Coast, but it has to be right. I turned down two pilots last year because they didn’t feel right to me.”

She explains, “I’ve been offered things that kind of make fun of older people, but not in a humorous way. It’s almost like a bunch of young guys in a room said, ‘Oh, what’s funny about an old woman?’ And then it gets to be tiresome. You can be absolutely legitimately funny with older people. Phil Rosenthal, who wrote ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ — the older couple played by Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle in that show were hilarious. But it wasn’t vulgar about her wanting a boob job or this or that — stuff that isn’t real.”

Harper, who’s among the stars of Saturday’s (1/7) Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Fixing Pete” — is certainly no prig. For instance, “I did ‘Sex in the City,’ which was a wonderful show,” she notes. “You could say it was vulgar, but it was vulgarity in the service of comedy.”

And of course, she was absolutely bawdy, naughty and witty as notorious 1930s actress Tallulah Bankhead (“I’m pure as the driven slush”) in Looped, the role that brought her a 2010 Tony nomination. “I think we’re going to tour that, but it’s hard,” she says. “The truth is, most of the touring companies now are musicals, but this, Looped, was so hilariously funny. Tony and I are talking about it. He produced it,” she says, referring to her husband of 24 years, Tony Cacciotti.

Harper says she didn’t hesitate when it came to joining the cast of the very light romantic comedy, “Fixing Pete.” Her newspaper editor-in-chief role was “different for me — to play that kind of power person. She has her eye on saving the paper. In this time of papers going under, she’s grasping. And she’s got this guy (Dylan Bruno) who’s a real mess but he’s popular and the sports pages are what’s keeping her circulation going.” Harper’s character assigns rising fashion editor Brooke Burns to give the manchild a makeover to make him more presentable before he goes out on a book tour, and a battle of the sexes ensues. “I thought it harkened back to Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Brooke and Dylan did a fun job,” Harper says.

The actress, whose other recent turns have included playing a judge on “Drop Dead Diva” and the boozy aunt of Teri Hatcher on “Desperate Housewives,” also has her work as a Screen Actors Guild board member keeping her busy these days — and she’s part of SAG’s taskforce to help returning veterans find jobs.

She comments, “The older I get, the more I like being a crone. You know, the crones were the wise old women of the village. I don’t have to be cute.”

MEANWHILE: Harper is looking forward to being on hand for Betty White’s 90th Birthday celebration on NBC Jan. 16. The two have remained friends since their “Mary Tyler Moore Show” days, and Harper admits she’s in awe. “Betty is just an incredible woman, still going strong and doing all her stuff for animals. We see each other, yes, and I often call her for advice. I’ll say, ‘We found a cat. Where do we take it?’ And she’ll say, ‘Oh, Valerie, there’s a no-kill shelter not too far from your house…’ And she always knows. She’s so involved, so on top of it all.”

NO EXCUSES: The story of blind high school football player Travis Freeman is getting the movie treatment as “Sight Unseen.” The film is now planned to begin production in early April in Kentucky, where the real story took place in the 1980s and 90s. Patricia Clarkson and Dylan Baker are set to star, and the cast is being filled out. When he was 12, Freeman nearly died and lost his sight in a battle with bacterial meningitis — but that didn’t stop him from playing center for the Corbin High Redhounds. He claimed blindness could even be an asset, in that opponents couldn’t use visual techniques to fake him out. He ran sprints, thrilled and inspired his teammates with his willingness to try anything. Good story.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Large guys rule in “Take Down the House,” a comedy feature now in preproduction that’s being referred to as a “revenge of the fatties.” It’s about four young overweight dudes glad to have left their high school bullies behind and moved on to college, only to find a frat pack waiting to humiliate them. But this time, they’re not taking it anymore.